Heart Rate Monitors

I don't train using heart rate (HR). It isn't that I mind wearing the chest band. Whenever I have, I've always forgotten I even had it on. But in the 3 years (or so) that I've owned my Garmin 210, I think I've used the HR monitor a whopping two times - and those were just to make sure the device actually worked.

I have plenty of friends who train using HR as a guide. They find it to be another useful tool to assist in measuring the outcomes of their regimens. And, were I more competitive, I would probably be running with an HR tracker as well.

I love running, and I take training pretty seriously. But apparently not seriously enough to track my heart rate. For me, since enjoyment, fitness, and distance (not competition) are my running priorities, adding more devices to my runs actually detracts from what I hope to gain.

That being said, today I came across a really interesting and short article in Competitor Magazine. It has a click-through page format (which I hate), but is worth the 5 minute read for anyone considering using an HR device. I learned something in each of the three sections. I should point out that the third part of the article which covers the difference in effort and HR when using a treadmill vs running outdoors was a solid (if too brief) summation of something that has perplexed me for years.

Here is the link:

http://running.competitor.com/2013/12/training/3-common-heart-rate-training-mistakes_29427

Spring is starting to flex its warming muscles on the country. So keep running and enjoy - whether you use an HR device or not!